Master of the System

Ruby exhaled and stretched out her limbs. It was pitch-black, and she had no way to inspect her surroundings with spiritual energy, but she was as relaxed as could be. Over the past year, she and her group had learned that there would be zero danger as long as there wasn’t spiritual energy used. Those freakish creatures with the tentacles wouldn’t show up, and there weren’t any nocturnal predators either—at least, none that would threaten her group. As she thought about the loot her charges had obtained, she couldn’t help but wonder how Grandpa Vremya was doing. Would he beat her for the silver feather? Although she’d find out tomorrow, just thinking about the results kept her awake.

Ruby rolled over and sighed. It had been a while since she had any real sleep. Cultivating wasn’t possible at night thanks to the freakish creatures, so she and some fellow disciples had opted to sleep instead. Currently, she was at the agreed-upon location to open the exit to the pocket realm. Eight of the other groups were already there, and the only team that was missing was Grandpa Vremya’s. If he didn’t show up, they wouldn’t be able to open the exit. In that case, they’d have to stay for another month for when the sect sent people to inspect the pocket realm for any accidents.

Distant laughter rang out, and Ruby bolted upright. Although there wouldn’t be any freakish creatures attracted by the sound, it was still possible for laughter and chatting to bring them over. One night, while they were sitting around a campfire and talking with one another, an inner disciple laughed so hard she needed to pee, but she circulated some spiritual energy to prevent it from coming out. Luckily, only two freakish creatures came out. After that night, the group decided it was better to keep quiet at night in case a repeat of that event happened. So, why was there so much laughter and chatter coming from so far away?

“Could it be Junior Brother Vremya’s group?” Michelle asked. “I don’t think there were any other humans in this pocket realm.”

“It has to be them,” Ruby said. The ground rumbled, and a scowl appeared on Ruby’s face. “Are they trying to get us killed? Those creatures are coming.”

Cracks split the ground, and tentacles pierced the earth, stretching towards the sky. Fleshy blobs crawled their way out of the dirt, and the disciples ran to avoid them. It wasn’t very difficult because all the blobs were blobbing in the same direction, towards the laughter. As long as they didn’t use any spiritual energy or run into a tentacle, the blobs would leave them alone. Unfortunately, it was too crowded and dark; one inner disciple screamed as a tentacle wrapped around her waist. Without thinking about it, Michelle drew her sword and slashed, breaking the black limbs. “Defensive positions,” she shouted. “Slowly make our way towards the laughter.”

The Moon Lotus Sect disciples formed up and worked together, fending off the blobs while steadily retreating. However, in the process, more titans were attracted to them thanks to the spiritual energy they were giving off. As the laughter got louder, the group realized the people in Grandpa Vremya’s group weren’t just laughing, they were also actively attracting the blobs with balls of spiritual energy acting as light sources floating around them. Question marks floated above the disciples’ heads as they wondered what the hell the last group was doing. The night had barely begun, yet they were attracting all the creatures in the region. Weren’t they worried about their spiritual energy running out? Some inner disciples had darker thoughts, suspecting the last group was trying to get them killed to lower their results.

When the group of disciples finally joined up with Grandpa Vremya’s group, the sight they saw left them stunned. There were thirty half-naked women with bulging muscles fighting against a swarm of blobs. They didn’t use any fancy techniques or skills; rather, they were punching, kicking, pulling, and ripping. Michelle stared with wide eyes as one of the buff women lifted a titan overhead and tore it apart straight up the middle. The only time any of the muscular women would use spiritual energy was when they were freezing the pulsating cores that were left behind.

“Is that Junior Sister Azalea?” Ruby asked, staring at the leading disciple. Above the muscular women, there was a small floating disc with an old man sitting on top of it. Since Grandpa Vremya was there, then the women below had to be their fellow disciples.

“What’s that?” an inner disciple asked, pointing behind Grandpa Vremya’s group.

Ruby stood on her tiptoes and squinted to see better. An army of grotesque people were picking up the remains of the blobs, carrying them in huge stacks easily twice the people’s heights. After looking some more, Ruby realized they weren’t humans but golems. She knew exactly what Grandpa Vremya could make out of a suit of armor having had the first-hand experience of being pummeled by one.

“Are we really in the same pocket realm?” one of Ruby’s inner disciples muttered. “Why do we have to be afraid of these creatures, but they look like they’re having so much fun?”

Ruby frowned. Grandpa Vremya’s group indeed did look like they were having fun. A few of the disciples were very loudly having a competition to see who could kill the most creatures. Some of the other disciples were punching and kicking the blobs back and forth between each other, making sure none of them touched the ground, until the blobs died, at which point they’d fetch some more. One disciple was giggling as she plucked the teeth out of the blobs one by one until they were completely smooth and harmless. Ruby memorized that disciple’s face to make sure to avoid her in the future.

Everyone—except for Grandpa Vremya’s group—was tired out by the time the night was through. Thanks to all the fierce fighting, the core disciples didn’t have a chance to greet each other, but now, there was plenty of time. Ruby and Michelle went up to Grandpa Vremya, glaring at him. “What were you thinking?” Ruby asked. “You could’ve gotten us killed.”

Grandpa Vremya swept his gaze over the crowd, counting them all in a few seconds. “You’re all still alive. It’s fine.”

“What did you do to the disciples you were supposed to protect?” Michelle asked. She craned her neck to look past Grandpa Vremya’s shoulder. The muscular women really were a sight to behold. They reminded her of the fierce warriors from the Sun Cactus Sect who only knew how to fight with their bodies.

“I didn’t do anything to them,” Grandpa Vremya said and pulled out his token. “They did it to themselves.” He raised the token up. “Shall we go now?”

“I’m still scolding you!” Ruby said. “When we get back to the sect, I’m going to file a serious complaint against you. You endangered everyone.”

“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Grandpa Vremya asked. “As long as you do your job of protecting them, they won’t be in danger.” He glanced at the other core disciples and wiggled his token at them. “Are we going or not?”

“Let us recover our spiritual energy first,” Michelle said. “Unlike your group, we’ve expended everything. But, really, what did you do to your disciples? How did they get so strong?”

“It’s titan flesh,” Grandpa Vremya said. “You have to squeeze all the blood out of the meat before you eat it, or you’ll be poisoned.”

“Weren’t you going to keep that a secret?” Azalea asked, butting into the conversation. She casually brushed her arms against her biceps, enjoying the feeling of how solid they were.

“Why would I keep it a secret?” Grandpa Vremya asked and snorted. “The stronger the sect is, the better. Besides, how are you supposed to sell the titan flesh if no one knows its worth?”

“You have a point,” Azalea said and nodded. She froze mid-nod. “Wait a minute. What do you mean I’m the one who’s selling the flesh? Shouldn’t that be you?”

Grandpa Vremya only stared at her in response.

Azalea sighed. Right. What was she thinking? Since when had Grandpa Vremya done anything other than cultivate?